A report providing leaders in community health centers, public health and policy an understanding of how health care providers can move beyond health care services alone to improve the health of the population by leveraging social determinants of health.

Daniel Goldberg teaches a course at the Brody School of Medicine that aims to answer such questions as: What causes disease across the globe? What causes people in some parts of the world to have much higher rates of certain diseases than others? And what are the implications for global health policy and ethics?

This paper represents the first phase of a Canadian initiative on intersectoral action for health and provides an overview of approaches to intersectoral action at the global, sub-regional, national, sub-national, and community levels. It is intended to contribute to the World Health Organisation’s Commission on Social Determinants of Health (SDH)

How should limited public resources be deployed to tackle inequities in health? This lesson plan uses a real health crisis in the Marshall Islands and a parliamentary simulation to help students assess the strengths and weaknesses of different health promotion policies and examine the roles of government, business, medical and public health systems, individuals, and community-based groups in governance. By the end of this activity, students will be able to argue and defend different approaches to tackling the root causes of health inequities and will better understand how the making of social policy is often influenced by political and economic factors that may have little to do with the merits of the proposals themselves.

As the leading public health agency in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) scientifically considers all factors that affect the health of the nation. As we embark into the 21st century, the interaction between people and their environments, natural as well as human-made, continues to emerge as a major issue concerning public health. CDC recognizes several significant health issues that are related to land use, including: Accessibility; Children's Health & the Built Environment; Elders' Health & the Built Environment; Gentrification; Health Impact Assessment; Injury, Mental Health; Physical Activity; Respiratory Health & Air Pollution; Social Capital; Water Quality.

Pew's Economic Mobility Project (EMP) focuses public attention on economic mobility - the ability to move up or down the income ladder within a lifetime, or from one generation to the next. By forging a broad and nonpartisan agreement on the facts, figures and trends in mobility, the project is generating an active policy debate about how best to improve economic opportunity in the United States and to ensure that the American Dream is kept alive for generations that follow.

EPI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy. It conducts original research on economic issues, replicas relojes aaa+++ makes policy recommendations based on its findings, and disseminates its work to the appropriate audiences. EPI's research focuses on four main economic areas: Living standards/labor markets; Government and the economy; Globalization and trade; and Education.

This Portal is a tool to promote health equity amongst different socio-economic groups in the European Union. Here, you can find information on policies and interventions to promote health equity within and between the countries of Europe, via the socio-economic determinants of health.

The information presented is the result of the collaboration of a wide range of health and social actors in the EU, that have come together in the context of a pan-European initiative that aims to stimulate action for greater health equity.

This piece discusses the current evidence base for policies that could address socioeconomic status (SES) health gradients in the United States.  Given the difficulty in developing randomized evidence for many types of interventions related to social determinants of health, the authors argue for conducting policy analysis by combining information on best available theory and evidence regarding probable health benefits and costs of an intervention, providing a framework that also incorporates the probable costs of inaction. The second half of the piece adopts a ladder metaphor to classify policies and interventions that could reduce SES gradients in population health.

What will America look like in 2020, given the steady decline of our central cities and our unchecked suburban expansion? In this 2000 article, author Lance Freeman looks at four possible scenarios for the future, and their implications for urban sprawl and social equity.

This study uses mortality data from 2000 to 2007 to assess disparities in life expectancy across US counties. Life expectancy rates for counties are compared to the life expectancies across nations in 2000 and 2007.

In Sick Around the World, FRONTLINE teams up with veteran Washington Post foreign correspondent T.R. Reid to find out how five other capitalist democracies -- the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Taiwan and Switzerland -- deliver health care, and what the United States might learn from their successes and their failures. You can watch the entire program online, and the site contains more information on the pros and cons of the different systems, interviews, transcripts, a teaching guide, and links to other resources and readings.

Though evidence indicated that compared to other developed nations Canada's health profile is mediocre and its public policy environment increasing unsupportive of health, the public health sector continues to focus on lifestyle issues. Much of this has to do with Canada being identified as being driven by a liberal political economy. Raphael explores reasons for Canada's neglect of structural and public policy issues and outlines ways by which public health workers in Canada and elsewhere can help to shift policymakers and the general public's understandings of the determinants of health.

Primarily intended for WHO/PAHO staff and health ministry officials, this course (available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese) aims to raise awareness of and provide insight into the Social Determinants of Health (SDH) in order to reduce health inequities, encourage changes in the political agenda and contribute to a better administration of social justice and enforcement of human rights. The authors wish to inspire a critical vision of SDH by facilitating both the dissemination of the approach and the understanding of the intervention criteria, drawing on validated scientific papers on SDH, public policies based on the SDH approach, and documents produced by the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health.

Health impact assessment (HIA) is a formal approach used to predict the potential health effects of a policy, with particular attention paid to impacts on health inequalities. It is applied during the policy development process in order to facilitate better policy-making that is based on evidence, focused on outcomes and includes input from a range of sectors. This Guide is for use – largely but not exclusively – by policy-makers in sectors other than health. Those likely to be affected by policy may also use it. We recommend that people who are using this Guide, or HIA for the first time, should attend an HIA training course and/or work alongside an experienced HIA practitioner.

The Health Impact Assessment (HIA) project is a joint endeavor of the Washington, D.C. based Partnership for Prevention and researchers at the UCLA School of Public Health. The HIA project aims to assess the feasibility of HIA and to develop prototype HIAs that demonstrate methodologies, eventually enabling HIA to contribute to more informed decision-making about public policies impacting health in the U.S.

Held by the World Health Organization in the European Region, this conference aimed to
- review the situation in the WHO European Region by identifying the main risks for health and health systems and the main opportunities for action;
- discuss policy options for responding to the negative impacts of the economic crisis on health systems and health outcomes in low-, middle- and high-income Member States in the Region;
- identify health- and health systems-related measures that could be used in the short and medium terms to counter the economic downturn and, in the longer term, to help address (some) structural issues confronting our societies.

This report is an attempt to show how the various forces discussed in UNNATURAL CAUSES influence health in the nine-county California Bay Area, and to suggest the kinds of policy initiatives and activities that will be crucial for both reducing the disparities among populations and improving our health overall.

The 2007 Blue Cross Foundation Leadership Award Program and Luncheon featured a keynote by Dr. Anthony Iton, director of the Alameda County (California) public health department, on how race, class, wealth, education, geography and employment affect health status.

Also includes presentations from Atum Azzahir, co-founder, president and executive director of the Powderhorn Phillips Cultural Wellness Center in Minneapolis, and remarks by Marsha Shotley, foundation president; the new Minnesota Health Commissioner, Dr. Sanne Magnan; and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota President Colleen Reitan.

With the mission to ignite a Fair Health movement that gives people of color the inalienable right to equal opportunity for healthy lives, this pioneering program of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies undertakes research, publications, activities, and projects designed to accelerate progress beyond listing and analyzing a litany of health disparities. Rather, they are directed toward collective strategies that will produce real change—and real opportunities for health.

See also: HPI Place Matters

The slides from a presentation by Jim Krieger, one of the experts featured in Place Matters, Episode 3 of UNNATURAL CAUSES. Krieger discusses how the High Point project sought to address various social determinants of health by building healthier homes and neighborhoods. The second half of the presentation discusses early childhood development and the need to provide early education.

A source of information on Health Impact Assessments.

Information on the High Point Community in Seattle, featured in Place Matters, Episode 5 of UNNATURAL CAUSES